Prague's IKEM and Berlin's Virchow Clinic: three years of bilateral cooperation between two European liver transplant centers.

Abstract

With sweeping political changes in Europe since 1989, cooperation across former borders has become possible. This article reports an experience of cooperation between an established center in Western Europe (Berlin's Virchow Clinic) and a developing center in Central Europe (Prague's Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, or IKEM). The relationship began with common organ procurement and has resulted in a high-quality transplant program in the Czech Republic. The Virchow Clinic functioned as counselor, adviser, and mentor to the developing center. The cooperation was supported by Eurotransplant, and training was provided to IKEM to enhance skills for an improved national program for liver transplantation. Standards for IKEM's full membership in the northwestern European network have been met. The number of liver transplantations per million population in the Czech Republic has markedly increased since the onset of this cooperative effort.